The rat rushed to cover the rat king like a shield. Dallion performed a pint attack straight down, but it was too late to kill the creature. The destructive force slammed into the cover of rats pushing everything down. The floor—already weakened by Dallion’s familiars—gave in, crumbling into the room below. The rats flowed down with it, creating new layers around the creature controlling them.

Without hesitation, Dallion did another point attack, then thrust the sword into a nearby wall, in order to keep himself from joining the pool of rats and remains.

“Gleam, get it!” he ordered. “Lux, ruby stay close to me.”

The whip blade spun in the air, twisting its metal fragments around like a tornado. The rat swarm was on the defensive now, although that didn’t stop creatures from leaping up at the weapon. At first glance, there was no reason for their action. They could do no damage to something that was indestructible. However, every moment they occupied the blade was a moment the rat king had to escape.

Anyone seen anything of the sort? Dallion asked.

No one answered. Apparently, the creature was unique to the world, possibly a result of the Star’s influence in the area.

Rats and subway tunnels, Dallion thought. It was almost as if he were back home.

The flow of rats into the room became a trickle, allowing Dallion to land on part of the floor that remained. Looking below, the mass of rats had thinned significantly. Sadly, that wasn’t so much due to Gleam’s efforts, but rather the rat king’s escape. There was a choice to be made: follow up and kill the creature, or take advantage of the retreat and rush down the tunnel towards the mountain.

“What do you think Harp?” Dallion asked. The harpsisword was still vibrating in his hand, but refused to give an answer. That wasn’t a good sign. “I need your advice, Harp.”

You have to decide on your own, the response came.

There was no spite, no disappointment, but rather the acknowledgement that he was mature enough to make his own decisions. The issue was that there was no telling whether those decisions were right.

There’s no guarantee in life, Dallion told himself. It wasn’t even a matter of taking the easy way as opposed to the right way. Both choices came with their own risks.

Gleam, stay clear, he ordered.

Suspecting what he intended, the whip blade flew up to the ceiling. Moments later, Dallion did another point attack, destroying two more floors.

“Lux, go after them,” he ordered. “Gleam, Ruby, cover my back.”

So, you’re chasing it, after all, Nil remarked.

“I’ve already started the hunt. Would be stupid to stop now that I have an advantage.” He leapt down, then rushed forward.

Following the rat king was easy. The swarm of rats had created a tunnel of their own, going through various parts of the ruins. Had they been any smaller, following them would have presented a significant difficulty. As things stood, Dallion didn’t even feel uncomfortable—he’d hunted creatures in far tighter spaces during hunter jobs.

On the way, scenes of the ruins’ past flashed by. One passing look gave an image of what had been: modern offices, living rooms, kitchens… it was as if someone had taken part of Earth and put it in the middle of this fantasy world only to have it destroyed and reduced to ruins. Even with the catastrophe devastating the surface, pockets had remained intact buried beneath the ruins for millennia.

For a brief moment, Dallion wondered what life must have been when the city was functional. Had it been prosperous beyond today’s understanding? Quite possibly, yes. Was it the Star that had achieved that? Or was he the one who had ruined it?

The moment passed quickly as a torrent of rats changed direction, charging directly at Dallion. This time he didn’t even pause, performing a series of attack combinations as he kept on running forward. Like in a dance, he spun and twirled, avoiding the incoming critters, while stashing them with deadly precision. If this were back in the realm, red rectangles would have filled the tunnel, potentially even earning him an achievement. Here, they only slowed him down from his real target.

Lux, how are things? Dallion asked through his awakened realm.

Half the swarm is heading your way, boss, the firebird replied. I’ll come to help out.

No! Keep on the rat king! I’ll be fine.

If what he was facing represented half the swarm, that was good news. The critter was running out of minions.

See, Nil, point attacks can be useful underground, Dallion thought as he sliced through the creatures.

Only for a while, the echo grumbled. Gravity has a way of striking structures where they’re weakened.

Splitting into instances, Dallion tossed the harpsisword to his left hand and did another point attack. The strike resulted in killing hundreds of rats all the way up to the rat king itself. Unfortunately, it also affected Lux in the process, forcing Dallion to choose another instance to become reality. If he wanted to win this without losses, he was going to have to take the slow and steady approach.

“Gleam, anything behind?” he asked.

Only the things you let pass, the familiar grumbled.

“Good.” Lux, can you attack the rat king?

Rats are still protecting it, boss. They’ve covered it like a cloud.

Speed up and slice through the ones on top. You don’t need to kill the creature, just break the spine knot.

Sure thing, boss!

There was no telling whether the creature followed the same logic as was believed on Earth, but Dallion had a hunch that might be the case. Hopefully, the injury was going to be enough to slow the creature down enough for Dallion to catch up.

Have you seen anything similar, dear boy? Nil asked.

That was a good question. Thinking back, rat kings were an urban legend. It had been a popular discussion in middle school, with spooky stories of them infesting subways and controlling the world. The creature was never meant to exist, not on Earth in any event. How come it had appeared here?

No, Dallion replied. Just heard of them.

It’s interesting that something else from your world somehow managed to make it here. Just like the knife you carry.

I doubt there’s any connection.

Isn’t there? Everything in the fallen south seems linked to your world. And you yourself have often considered that the Star’s from there as well.

You’ve told me there are no ways to get things between worlds, Dallion countered. And even if there were, this isn’t a creature that exists there.

Before the argument could continue, a victorious cry filled Dallion’s awakening domain.

I got it! Lux yelled, his voice full of more enthusiasm that even he was used to. I broke it up in three parts! There’s only two of them attached to the spine.

As he said that, the stream of rats attacking Dallion suddenly dispersed. No longer directed to charge towards their death, the creatures changed direction, doing their best to flee the threat as best they could.

Focusing on his athletic skills, Dallion sprint forward as fast as his legs would take him. After a short while, he came across some of the corpses Lux had mentioned. Bodies of deformed rats with their spike sticking from their backs lay on the floor, twitching in a near-dead state. A few precise strikes instantly put them out of their misery.

I got the last two! Lux yelled again. It was easy!

Good job. Now get back here.

Naturally, it would be easy. Left to its own devices, the rat king wasn’t supposed to be strong. It was the swarm surrounding it that was the real threat. Now that the brain of the swarm was dealt with, there was no chance that Dallion would be attacked again. That was assuming there was only one rat king in the ruins.

Deciding not to ruin the moment of victory, Dallion leaned against a nearby wall to catch his breath. A few moments later, all his familiars were there as well. Gleam was first, sliding the whip blade back into its scabbard. Lux followed, almost popping into existence in front of Dallion. Even in the real world, his ability to propel himself was impressive. Last was Ruby, who took almost half a minute more to reach them. The shardfly was by no means slow, but compared to everyone else, he had a lot of catching up to do—something he was conscious of, for he quietly landed on Dallion’s shoulder and folded his wings together.

Walking back to the “subway station” took over half an hour. It was impressive how much distance could be crossed when running at the full speed with a body trait of thirty-eight. The time gave Dallion a chance to consider the grand scope of things. The political mess he had gotten himself involved with almost rivaled the Wars of Succession the province had seen forty years ago. However, he feared that he was involved in something far greater.

The dwarf hunter he had gone to not too long ago had mentioned a prophecy that would bring the end of the world. Could it be that the prophecy was correct and Dallion could end up being the cause of destruction? If the Star somehow obtained the skill to do magic, would the world suffer the fate of the fallen south? According to the world’s history, three races had tried to conquer the world: the copyettes, the nymph, and the dryads. All of them had failed, and yet none of them had suffered the amount of devastation Dallion witnessed in the south.

Nil, what happens if the Star is killed? Dallion asked.

Back to your usual philosophical questions? The echo sighed. The short answer is that no one knows. No one has managed to achieve such a feat.

Even the Moons?

After four ages, there’ve been so many lies and half truths that even brilliant scholars from the past have no idea what’s real and what not. Maybe the Star can’t be killed? Or maybe when it’s killed, it would be reborn and continue where it left off. There’s no way of knowing, which makes your obsession to fight him all the more absurd.

I don’t want to fight him. I just want to make sure he doesn’t fight me. Dallion said, aware of the paradox.

In his mind, there was no doubt that the Star was from Earth, just as he was pretty certain that the Moons had cast him down in the ancient past. Looking at the remnants of the Star’s achievements were enough to convince him of that. All the discoveries in this era, even those in eras past, seemed to be linked to this kingdom: a kingdom that had been destroyed “before time.”

Two things kept nagging at him: why hadn’t the Moons finished the Star off, and—given that he was almost certainly anotherworlder—why had they let him level up to the point he’d be a threat? Only one answer made sense: despite everything he had done, the Moons still liked him. Or, to be more specific, they needed him to exist. If all awakened were characters in their grand game, there had to be two sides.

The rest of the day proved uneventful. Every hour, Dallion would pause, leaving Lux and Gleam to check the tunnel in both directions. Other than a few lone insects scurrying about, there was nothing of interest. It almost seemed that all the dangers were over… until Lux came back with news of sunlight in the tunnel ahead. Upon going close, Dallion felt his heart tighten.

Back in the days of the fallen kingdom, the subway must have connected cities like a normal train. The tracks continued on through the open for several dozen miles until they entered another tunnel in the cliff-face itself. This was the final stretch leading to the end of the canyon and the mountain beyond, and it was completely exposed.